


A Lesson In Eternal Romantics

by dolly_dagger87



Series: A Series of Romantic Lessons [3]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-29
Updated: 2016-11-29
Packaged: 2018-09-02 23:19:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8687452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dolly_dagger87/pseuds/dolly_dagger87
Summary: “Isn’t the part that matters that they did it? A marriage is between two people, isn’t that the part that matters?”“It matters to me, I mean, I would want you guys there.”“So we’ll be there, Harry.” This is the story of how Harry Welsh married Kitty Grogan, as told by Carwood Lipton. A sequel to A Lesson in Summer Romantics.





	1. One

Carwood Lipton blinked his eyes open and closed a couple of times, trying to get them to focus on the clock on the wall across the room. When they finally managed this task, he groaned - it was nearly noon. He wiped a hand across his face, trying to pull the last bit of the sleep out of him. As he sat up, he could hear a groan of protest from the other side of the bed.

 

“It’s almost noon,” Carwood commented.

 

This information was met with another groan as Ron pulled the blankets tighter around himself.  
Carwood shook his head, the last day of midterms was the day before and Ron had said that he was never getting out of bed again ever. Of course that ignored the fact that he had to go work and proctor his pre-session classes. Carwood, on the other hand, couldn’t waste his Saturday in bed. He had to go over his project notes for a meeting Monday and do some chores around the house. So he walked out to the kitchen and started the coffeemaker. Sure it was nearly time for lunch but for Carwood his day was just getting started. Once the coffee was underway, Carwood walked out into the hallway and picked up the mail from underneath the slot on the door. He started flipping through it as he walked back to the kitchen and that’s when he saw it. There in between the cable bill and coupons for a local pizza place was a small white envelope with a handwritten address. Carwood knew that handwriting, he’d seen it on several birthday cards and Christmas cards. The address was more formal than it normally was, Mr. Ronald Speirs and Mr. Carwood Lipton. He turned the envelope over and it was closed with silver sticker with a K and H in script.

 

Carwood set the mail down on the counter and opened the drawer by the stove to get a butter knife to open the envelope. Inside was a piece of heavy paper embossed with raised black ink.

 

‘Save the Date’ the top of the card read.

 

Carwood smiled. He wasn’t surprised to get one of these for several reasons. One, no one had ever met Kitty and Harry and left with the impression that they weren’t headed down the aisle. Two, the guest list was causing Kitty no small amount of trauma. She had even gone so far as to put a notecard on the fridge that said sorry for the things I say while I make the guest list. And finally, Kitty had texted him to let him know that she had mailed them. And also that she was going to get drunk in the middle of the afternoon if he wanted to join her in spirit or Skype. He’d been at work.

 

But even though he knew it was coming, it was still nice to hold the card in his hard. Because he was happy for his friends and also because he was looking forward to going. In nearly no time at all, Kitty and Harry had managed to become very important to Carwood. And he knew that they were even more important to Ron.

 

He was so engrossed in vicarious joy that he jumped a little when Ron wrapped his arms around his waist.

 

“Fuck, I love you right now,” Ron said, nuzzling his nose into Carwood’s neck. For once he didn’t comment on the fact that he once again managed sneak up on Carwood. Carwood had hoped that in two years he would have managed to clue into whatever tell Ron had. That was sadly not the case.

 

“Well, coffee has always proved to be the quickest way to get you hot in the morning,” Carwood replied.

 

“There are other ways,” Ron said, sneaking a hand up under Carwood’s shirt, his fingers sliding against Carwood’s skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. “But you are strangely prudish about doing those things in the kitchen.” And just like that, Ron’s hand was gone and he was off in search of a coffee mug.

 

“We have to eat in here,” Carwood said.

 

“And I’ve offered to use any number of disinfectants after, but no.” Ron drew out the o as he poured his coffee.

 

Carwood rolled his eyes, the real reason he was opposed to kitchen sex was because he didn’t need to be thinking of Ron naked while he made dinner with sharp knives. With coffee in hand, Ron went in search of shoes so he could go outside and have coffee with his first cigarette. As Ron made to leave the kitchen, Carwood held out the card for him to read.

 

“Four, four, huh. She went out of her way to make that anniversary easy to remember,” Ron said before he left the room to find his shoes.

 

“You think Harry would ever forget their anniversary?” Carwood asked. Honestly, Carwood wouldn’t be surprised if Harry could recall everything about the moment he meet Kitty in perfect detail. 

 

“It’s going to be talking him out a vow renewal every year that will be the trick,” Ron answered, unlit cigarette dangling from his lips. “Do we have to do anything with that?” He gestured to the card.

 

Carwood sighed. “Save the date,” he read, pointing at every word for Ron as he read.

 

“Hey,” Ron said as he wrenched their back door open; it had a tendency to stick. “I read it. If you want comprehension, you’re going to have to wait for the coffee to kick in.”

 

Carwood laughed even though he wasn’t sure Ron heard him over the sound of the closing door.


	2. Two

Carwood breathed out something that resembled a sigh of relief when he got out of the cab in front of their house. He loved Kitty and Harry dearly, but drinking with Kitty and Harry was not a sport for the faint of heart. And honestly Carwood had a hard time keeping up and normal threw in the towel early. Having gotten the love birds off to their hotel, they were finally home.

“Go ahead on up, I’m going to kill a smoke first,” Ron said as he dug around in the pockets of his jacket. To the untrained observer, Ron was doing pretty well, certainly better than Harry, but Carwood could tell Ron’s normally fluid movements were not up to their usual grace.

“I can wait,” Carwood said with a shrug, pulling his coat around him a little tighter. For November and Boston, it was still pretty warm, but Carwood had always been a sensitive to cold. But low 40s he could handle.

Ron made a noncommittal noise as he unceremoniously dropped himself onto the step, unlit cigarette pressed between his lips. Carwood smiled and sat down next to him. Ron clicked his lighter a few times before he got it lit. He cupped his hand around the flame and leaned his head to light his cigarette. He took a drag from it, eyes seemingly glued to the glowing end of the cigarette as he blew smoke out into the night.

Carwood nudged him slightly before asking, “Something up?” Ron had honestly been a little subdued since they parted company with Kitty and Harry.

“Didn’t figure Harry’d still be nursing a grudge against Dick and Nix,” Ron replied. “But he must be at least a little bit, they ended up as groomsmen.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Carwood said. “I think if he were still pissed, he’d leave them out of the wedding all together. He didn’t pick you for his best man because of lack of options, he picked you because you are his best friend. And I think this because he took the train all the way down here to ask you in person.” 

“That is a sad commentary on his life when I’m the best friend he has,” Ron replied before taking another drag of his cigarette.

“No, it’s not,” Carwood protested. He was borderline offended now. “You are not. You are one of his oldest friends and you always have his back even when he’s wrong. And if we are looking at best man qualifications, you make up for his weaknesses. You are probably the most organized person he knows. And I like Harry, I do, but he is going to need a lot of help there. You are realistic where he is not, especially when it comes to Kitty. And with your help, Harry will show up to shit on time and that is pretty much your one job.”

“The speech,” Ron said, gesturing towards Carwood with his cigarette.

“You give lectures all the time,” Carwood said. “I’m sure you’ll be fine in front a room of friends and family.”

“The delivery is not the part I’m worried about.” And that was when Carwood understood what he meant. Outpouring of emotion and public displays of affection were not really Ron’s strengths.

“Trust me. Harry will have you covered on the romantic declarations of love. He’ll probably have done a half dozen by the time we get to the reception. A couple of stories at Harry’s expense will be a nice change for everyone. Just wrap that up with how you always knew Kitty and Harry were perfect for each other and you’re pretty much home free. Besides,” Carwood added. “We have until April to figure it out.”

“We?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure listening to your speech is one of my responsibilities as a boyfriend.” 

A small smile tugged at the corner of Ron’s lips. “You’re just dying to hear all the embarrassing Harry stories I know.”

“It would help level the playing field,” Carwood said as he got up, stretching a little. “And I like young Harry and Sparky stories; they are full of the cunning undermining of authority. It makes it so much easier to deal with Sobel knowing that he was once bested by a pair of fifteen year olds.”

“We were quite mature for our age,” Ron said, snuffing out the cigarette on the steps.

“You were quite devious for your age,” Carwood replied.

Ron smirked as he heaved himself somewhat unsteadily up from the steps. He wrapped his hand around the back of Carwood’s neck and guided him forward into a kiss. Carwood stumbled forward a bit and gripped the front of Ron’s jacket for support. Carwood could feel Ron’s lips turning up into a smile at the clumsiness of his boyfriend. Ron nipped softly at Carwood’s lips, causing him to shiver.

“Come on,” Ron said pulling back. “Let’s go inside. You’re getting cold.”

“That wasn’t a cold shiver and you know it,” Carwood replied. “Smug bastard,” he muttered.

Ron’s eyes almost seemed to sparkle. Not for the first time Carwood wondered if that was why Harry called him Sparky. If the way mischief danced through his eyes like lightning, if that was what had lead to the nickname. He didn’t wonder if they danced like that the first time he’d gotten one over Sobel, Carwood absolutely knew that they had.


	3. Three

“Bullshit,” Ron said and even though Carwood would have loved nothing more than to contradict Ron at that moment, he was undercut by a coughing fit. Ron raised an eyebrow.

“I hate you right now,” Carwood muttered. Even in the soft tone, his voice sounded raspy to his own ears as he shuffled back to the sofa.

“That’s fine. Just hate me while laying down on the couch,” Ron replied.

Carwood glared at the wall separating the kitchen and the living room as he settled back on the sofa. He pulled the blanket around himself and tried his best not to look as pathetic as he felt. It seemed to happen every year around this time; Carwood would get a cold and it would settle in his chest. He’d end up carrying it around for about a month. It wouldn’t start out too bad, a little wheezing and shortness of breath. Every year he’d head to the doctor and cross his fingers that it wasn’t viral and they could give him something. It always was and they never did. In the end, it would taper off just as mildly as it began. It was the week in-between those two that killed. The wet water cough that seemed to rattle his chest. The constant struggle between too hot and too cold. The constant fatigue and the forced confinement to sofa or the bed by his boyfriend, who despite near constant exposure to Carwood, never seemed to get sick.

His boyfriend that he was also somewhat shocked to discover, had a wide variety of mother hen impulses. Carwood always knew that Ron had hidden depths of kindness that he didn’t let everyone see. Carwood didn’t know that those depths extended to making soups and burying Carwood under practically every blanket they had in the house. And normally it would be sweet, but Carwood wasn’t helpless and it was really starting to bug him that he wasn’t able to do anything for himself.

He’d also seemed to have run out of allies. Kitty had sent him a text that afternoon to feel better. The real blow was the follow up text:

_And I can’t believe I’m saying this but listen to Ron._

Traitor.

Carwood tried to lie down only to have his body racked by another coughing fit. Carwood cupped a hand over his mouth and pulled his other arm around his chest as he leaned forward. When the coughs finished, he registered the pair of strong hands, one was wrapped around his shoulder and another one rubbing the middle of his back.

“Yeah, you’re completely fine,” Ron remarked dryly.

“You choose now to mock me,” Carwood rasped.

“No mocking,” Ron said, rubbing Carwood’s shoulder, “just the statement of what should be obvious facts. So stay here, no getting up, and I’ll make you soup.” Ron pressed down a little more firmly on Carwood’s shoulders to make his point.

“I can make my own lunch,” Carwood muttered, but Ron didn’t respond. Whether it was because he didn’t hear him, or didn’t believe him, Carwood wasn’t sure.

“Here,” Ron said, returning to the living room. “This should cheer you up.” 

Carwood was about to ask what ‘this’ was when a cream colored envelope was passed over his shoulder. It was heavier than the last one, but the same flowing script was used to address it and the same silver sticker held it closed. And Ron was right, the minute he saw it, Carwood’s mood improved. Inside the envelope was another black envelope. Everything inside that was a testament to Kitty’s organization skills, the envelope opened like a folder. First there was the invitation itself - it looked like a chalkboard.

“You’re kidding me. The wedding the starts at four,” Ron said, reading over Carwood’s shoulder.

“She’s decided to embrace it,” Carwood replied.

Below the time of the ceremony was the promise that dinner and dancing would follow at 6:30. Also enclosed was the registration information. Another card had directions to the church and the reception hall. And lastly the RSVP card and the smallest envelope Carwood had ever seen to mail it back in. It was then that something tapped his shoulder. Carwood turned his head to see Ron holding a pen.

“Thanks,” he replied, taking the pen. Carwood wrote a two on the line for number of attending and checked that they would both be staying for dinner.

“Better let me do the licking. You know, just in case,” Ron said, taking the card and putting it inside the envelope. He licked it closed and made a face at the taste of the glue. “Guess we are about to find out if going to a wedding as a couple is everything Harry made it out to be.”

“Harry makes most everything sound more romantic than it actually is,” Carwood finished the sentence with a deep rasping cough that seemed to rattle his rib cage. As he coughed, he felt Ron’s hand on his shoulder, felt it slide back and forth until he was rubbing soothing circles on his back. When the cough subsided, he felt Ron press a kiss to his uncomfortably warm forehead.

“Stay,” Ron said, pressing down on Carwood’s shoulders firmly. “And I’ll make lunch.”

Carwood tried not to grumble at the command and settled back onto the couch. He tried and almost succeed.

“I heard that,” Ron called from the kitchen.

“You were meant to,” Carwood replied, and he pulled the blanket around his shoulders.


	4. Four

“Kitty is pissed,” Ron slurred as he leaned against the bedroom door. His dark hair was falling carelessly across his forehead and his eyes were glazed, slightly out of focus. He was plastered, but Carwood hadn’t really expected anything different when he’d packed Ron off to Harry’s bachelor party that evening.

Carwood laughed. “I can’t imagine why. It probably has something to with the fact that you woke her up at two in the morning. And I imagine Harry is in worse shape than you are.” Carwood hadn’t bothered going to sleep, knowing that he’d be worried about them and Ron would wake him up when he got home anyway. Ron had never been a quiet drunk; he had a habit of walking into things.

“He was throwing up when we left,” Ron confirmed, nodding shakily.

“I’m sure that helped her mood,” Carwood said, barely concealing his laughter.

“She didn’t say a word to us,” Ron said as he slumped back on the doorway.

“Well, did you have fun at least?” Carwood said as he placed his bookmark in his book and put it on the nightstand.

“Yeah.” Ron gave a shrug as he tottered over to the bed before flopping down on it so he could remove his shoes. “Harry was doing reasonably well until Nix started him double fisting.”

There was an edge to voice, a quiet acknowledgment that he was still a little bitter that Nix had commandeered the whole evening. When his left shoe hit the floor Ron leaned back so he ended up head pillowed on Carwood’s legs.

“Hi,” Ron said as he turned his head to look at Carwood.

Carwood smiled and pushed a piece of Ron’s hair off his forehead.

"You should have come with us,” Ron whispered. He reached up, tracing the line of Carwood’s elbow.

“It seems like you did just fine without me,” Carwood replied just as softly. He wasn’t sure why they were whispering; they were the only ones home. Maybe it was because it was so early or maybe it was because wherever this was going, Ron was worried it would upset him. Ron often tried to compensate for indelicate nature by at least controlling the volume at which he said something.

“Harry asked where you were,” Ron replied. “I told him you had to work late.”

Because that’s what a couple does, they lie for each other, went unspoken. Ron may not have understood why Carwood wanted him cover for him but he did it. And he didn’t understand because Carwood had never found a way to put his insecurity into words. It was just that when he went out with the guys, it was hard not to feel - not left out - but behind. Like there were stories and memories that he missed out on and that feeling tended to get worse when everyone was drinking. When Kitty was around, at least he didn’t feel alone. It was probably impossible to feel left out when Kitty around, she seemed to go out of her way to make everyone feel included.

“Thanks, Sparky,” Carwood replied as he ran his fingers though Ron’s hair.

“Harry owes me one,” Ron said with a shrug. “Without me, he’d have walked into a ladder.”

Carwood blinked because honestly that sounded like something that only happened in cartoons. “He what?”

Ron smiled. “We were walking through this parking lot and there was this pickup. It had this ladder sticking out of the back of it. So we were walking along and Harry was heading right for it. And I’m walking behind him and I’m thinking that he has to have seen it. But we were getting closer and he’s not moving so I pushed him out of the way. And he almost fell over,” Ron chucked softly, most likely envisioning the events in his head. “Pretty sure he ended up throwing up in the back of that same pickup later.”

Carwood couldn’t help it, he started laughing. Because he could totally see it in his head. Could hear Harry’s voice somewhat indignant that Ron had implied that he was too drunk to take care of himself. But clearly he was because he’d also lost the filter between his brain and his mouth. When he stopped laughing, he noticed that Ron had been staring at him. He’d been about to ask what he was staring at when Ron leaned forward and kissed him. Ron’s mouth tasted sharp and warm from the booze, but Ron was kissing him slowly like he was just checking to make sure Carwood’s mouth hadn’t changed while he was out for the evening. When he pulled back, Carwood couldn’t help but smile.

“Hi,” he said, feeling a bit of the old craft room magic in the room.

“Hi,” Ron replied before he pressed a kiss to the corner of Carwood’s mouth. Ron wobbled a bit and had to put a hand down on the bed to steady himself. “I’m going to take a shower.”

“Ok,” Carwood said, patting his arm. “Gonna throw up while you’re at it?”

“Maybe,” Ron said as he heaved himself up off the bed.

“Maybe?” Carwood asked as Ron walked a rather curvy path to their bathroom.

“Yeah, the jury is still out,” Ron said, bracing himself against the door frame.

“Ok. Well good luck with that, Sparky,” Carwood said, returning to his book.

“Thanks Lip,” Ron replied before closing the bathroom door.


	5. Five

Carwood Lipton was absolutely, positively never getting married.

Well, maybe not never, but absolutely never like this.

He was really starting to see the merit of what Dick and Nix did, and he was also very proud of Kitty that she had managed to pull all this off. But as he stood in the back of the church watching people file in, there was a small part of him that wanted this. Even though he knew logic and reason would help drown that part of himself later. 

“Lip,” someone called and Carwood turned his head in the direction of his nickname, to see Buck walking towards him and a tall woman with brown curly hair. She was beautiful, but of course she was beautiful; Carwood had never seen Buck date anyone that could be described as plain.

“Hey Buck,” Carwood said, smiling and fidgeting with his tie slightly.

“Lip, this is Donna. Donna this is Lip,” Buck said, gesturing between the two of them.

“Is it really ‘Lip’?” She asked as she shook his hand.

“It’s Carwood. Somewhere over the course of a summer these guys started calling me Lip.” Carwood shrugged.

Donna smiled but you could tell by the look in her eyes that she wasn’t quite sure how that happened.

“Where’s your other half?” Buck asked, looking around like Ron might be lying in wait somewhere.

“Probably plotting his own death since Harry is reading his vows out loud again,” Carwood replied. He wasn’t sure that was exactly what Ron was doing, but Harry had been reviewing his vows a lot. And Ron was being dragged into it more often than not.

“Oh that’s right, he’s best man, isn’t he?” Buck replied. “Bet Harry made the whole getting to the church easier.”

Carwood laughed. Harry probably had gotten as much sleep as a kid on Christmas Eve.

“So you’re by yourself?” Donna asked. “Well, you can sit with us.”

As Carwood thanked her, he noticed that just like Kitty, Donna seemed to have a knack for making decisions for them when she thought that they needed taking care of. Carwood was sure Donna was going to fit in just fine.

Buck laughed though. “She’s been picking up strays since we got here, Martin’s going to be sitting with us too.”

Carwood winced. “So he and…”

“He brought Bull as his date,” Buck finished when Carwood trailed off. “He said he didn’t want spend the whole evening with a bunch of gross couples. To be fair I don’t think he meant the two of you. I think he obviously meant Dick and Nix.”

Carwood smiled and was about to try and find something more witty to say than probably, when Martin entered with Bull in tow.

“Did you get to the part about the car yet?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Oh my God, what did they do to it?” Carwood said, dragging his hand over his mouth. Since the events of the weekend started, Kitty had been trying desperately to keep her cousins away from her getaway car. She wanted it to be classy - a couple of cans on the bummer and a Just Married sign in window chalk. Classy.

“Well,” Martin said, clearing his throat, “if they had filled the condoms with Helium the thing might be airborne right now.” 

“Oh Jesus.” Carwood pitched the bridge of his noise. “If we raid the kitchen for sharp objects…”

“Consider it done,” Buck said.

“Anything for Kitty,” Martian added with a nod.

“Thank you, guys,” Carwood said, smiling. “I thank you and I’m sure Kitty would thank you.” It was moments like this that Carwood realized how much of a family they were. How one camp in the middle of nowhere Georgia had drawn them together to form a dysfunctional family. 

When he got them out the door, he took a deep breath and leaned against the counter.

“Am I supposed to be wearing a flower or something?”

Carwood looked up to see Ron standing in the door, gesturing at his lapel.

“Jesus, what are you still doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in a room somewhere trying to keep Harry away from Kitty?”

Ron shrugged. “I had to run over and let the cake people in.”

“That was hours ago. What happened?” Charwood said, opening the fridge to get out Ron’s boutonniere. 

“They forgot the groom’s cake,” Ron replied.

Carwood paused for a moment with the fridge door open. “They forgot…”

“Lizzy and I bullied them into making one in the kitchen at the hall,” Ron replied.

And as if she was summoned by the sound of Ron’s voice, Kitty’s younger sister Elisabeth rounded the corner at a run, high heels clutched in hand.

“Hey Lip,” she said and squeezed his shoulder before she ducked around him to grab her bouquet out of the vase and tapped it against the side to knock off the excess water. “Can you help Chloe find where my Mom is going to sit?” She gestured with the flowers toward the doorway where her girlfriend was standing looking a little lost.

“Sure,” Carwood nodded.

“Thanks Lip, you’re the best,” she smiling broadly and hurrying over to kiss Chloe’s cheek before she dashed out the door.

Carwood finally closed the refrigerator and walked over to Ron.

“You’re going to have to help me put that on,” Ron said.

“I knew that already,” Carwood smiled. He tore the bag open and pulled out a single white rose on a bed of greenery and small white flowers. He pulled the pin out and started trying to line up the boutonniere on Ron’s lapel.

“Don’t stick me,” Ron said jokingly.

“I should do it now on principal,” Carwood said as he fixed the flower on Ron’s jacket.

Ron smoothed out his jacket. “Thanks,” he said with that sly smile. He turned and left and Carwood knew that he was still smiling as he walked over to Chloe.

“You two are cute,” she said.

Carwood chuckled. “Maybe don’t phrase it that way to Ron.”

~

The ceremony was of course beautiful, but then how could anything planned by Kitty be anything less. The only thing that didn’t seem to have been thought out was how Kitty’s father was supposed to get to his seat with the train of daughter’s dress now blocking the aisle.

Carwood hung in the back to watch while the wedding party shuffled around for family photographs, even though Buck and Donna had encouraged him to come with them and wait in the courtyard. Carwood didn’t think he’d ever seen Harry look happier or Kitty look more beautiful. The train seemed to be a whole new set of problems when it became clear that no one had paid enough attention during the dress fitting to figure out how to get it busheled up after the photographs. But after some struggling, Kitty’s mother managed it so Kitty could make it out to the car without dragging her dress behind her.

Kitty had given out bubbles, because she didn’t want bird seed in her hair, so Kitty and Harry ran down the stairs and into their car through a sea of bubbles. They ran to a car that Carwood couldn’t help but notice only had a few tasteful cans on the bumper. After Kitty and Harry had driven around the block, the guests were ushered downstairs for the reception. They had to only wait a bit for the happy couple to descend the stairs. As the toasts started, Carwood’s eyes kept darting to Ron, knowing that Ron had worked on this speech. Even though he had never heard it, Ron had kept the whole thing pretty quiet.

When Ron was handed the microphone, he made it pretty clear that he knew everyone had been worried about giving him this responsibility. “Since Harry doesn’t have any friends I ended up as his best man. I’m not going to tell you that the first time I met Harry, I knew we were going to be best friends for the rest of our lives because we don’t really have that…”

“Because you never talk,” Harry interjected.

Ron smiled. “Fair enough, and since that’s fairly true, I figured that I’d take the easy way out and let Kitty and Harry do most of the talking.” Then Ron took a step back and removed the lense cover off a projector behind him. On the wall on the opposite side of the room, appeared one of Kitty and Harry’s engagement photos appeared on the wall. A couple clicks of a remote and soft music started playing over a slideshow of photographs. It started with baby pictures and the guests could watch as Kitty and Harry grew up before their eyes. While they grew on the wall, Kitty worked her way around the room to Ron before she pulled him into a tight hug. Harry was close behind her and he clapped Ron on the shoulder. “Good job, Sparky.”

It was a brilliant idea, because it helped cover Ron’s discomfort with public displays of emotion. But it was also brilliant because Kitty and Harry’s biggest strength was always that anyone, friend or stranger, could tell just by looking at them that they were madly in love and meant to be together. And in typical Ron fashion, he avoided explaining something everybody already knew.

After the presentation, Lizzy took her turn and it was obvious that she wished she had tried to find some way out of this too. After the toasts were behind them, the whole thing felt more like a party in Kitty and Harry’s apartment. There was good food, keg beer, and Kitty working the room making sure everyone was comfortable. She just made it over to him, her hand on his shoulder when her mother walked over to ask if she was ready to toss her bouquet.

“Or I could just hand it to Lip,” she said with a smile, squeezing his shoulder and smiling at him.

Carwood laughed and smiled, but didn’t give her the satisfaction of a response.

She smiled back. “If Buck beats you down the aisle, I will be so upset with Ron.” She squeezed his shoulder again before she left.


	6. Six

“Holy shit, thank God that’s over,” Ron said, flopping down on the bed. “That was way too much forced socialization.”

Carwood smiled as he undid his tie.

“That sounded horrible,” Ron acknowledged working his own tie out of his shirt collar. “I mean…” he trailed off before saying, “you know what I mean.”

And Carwood did. It was quite a lot of force for one day and Ron had held up admirably. Of course, getting to beat down the cake company had probably helped. “Sure, I know what you mean,” Carwood said and he shrugged off his jacket. He hung it up on the hanger provided by the hotel.

“I should probably shower,” Ron said as Carwood sat down on the bed next to him.

“Well I’m not going to stop you,” Carwood said, laying down next to him, uniting his tie, and unbuttoning the first few buttons on his shirt.

“That was an invitation,” Ron said, sliding over and bumping his shoulder into Carwood’s. He patted the inside of Carwood’s thigh as he got up.

“Oh, is that was that what that was?” Carwood replied.

Ron nodded before he climbed on top of Carwood, straddling his waist. He pressed his weight back into Carwood’s hips. Carwood hissed in a breath as his hands came up to grip Ron’s hips. Ron smirked and leaned down to kiss Carwood. Carwood gripped Ron’s hips tighter and rolled his own hips up into Ron. Ron pulled back from Carwood’s lips with a pop before he started sucking on Carwood’s neck.

“You know, we could just stay right here?” Carwood gasped the last word as Ron introduced just a hint of teeth.

“Absolutely not,” Ron said with a shake of his head before he sucked harder on Carwood’s neck causing Carwood to moan. Ron was just playing dirty now, he knew Carwood’s neck was a weakness. “I bought silicone lube for this. That shower is almost twice the size of ours.”

Carwood swallowed as Ron licked across his Adam’s apple. Carwood made no move because this position was one of his favorites. He liked having Ron on top of him, riding him, hands braced against Carwood’s chest for balance. He liked the feel of Ron moving above him, his face fixed in concentration. It reminded him of their first time, on the mattress on the floor of the cabin.

“Can we do it like this later,” Carwood asked.

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Ron smiled before getting up and pulling Carwood with him. They crossed the room kissing and shedding the remainder of their suits as they went, with a brief stop at Ron’s suitcase to retrieve the lube. Once they were naked and in the bathroom, Carwood started fiddling with the taps to get the water warm.

“We are going to fall and break our necks,” Carwood said, fingers still under the water.

“You have so little faith in us,” Ron said, shaking his head.

“Well, you were always the adventurous one,” Carwood replied. 

Ron smiled, taking a few steps towards Carwood and wrapping his arm around his neck. “You get more adventurous all the time,” Ron said, before pulling him in for a kiss.

Carwood only pulled away when the water felt warm enough to be comfortable. “Water’s ready.”

“Come on before you chicken out,” Ron said, pulling Carwood towards the shower.

Carwood had been about to reply, something about how he was here, wasn’t he, or something even lamer about not actually chickening out. But all of that died as he watch Ron pop the cap on the lube and pour it over his fingers before he reached behind himself.

“Can I…” Carwood started only to be cut off.

“No,” Ron said, “Because if you do, I’m worried my knees will go out.” As Carwood watched Ron’s posture change, he could tell that Ron had started to slide his own fingers in. Carwood raked his teeth over his bottom lip. Ron always looked hot like this, working himself open on his own fingers, another flashback to that mattress all those summers before. Ron’s breath would catch and a blush would start to color his cheeks. Carwood took the lube out of Ron’s hand so that he could lube up his own dick. It probably wasn’t the best idea to jerk off while he was essentially watched live porn. Their eyes met as Ron pulled his finger out.

“Tell me you’ve thought this out,” Carwood panted and Ron nodded.

“This is where the handles come in,” Ron said as he turned around, gripping the railings in the showers.

“Of course you’ve thought this out,” Carwood whispered, because Ron was an opportunistic planer when it came it to sex. After all, he’d started carrying supplies after their first make out session. As Carwood started lining up behind Ron, Ron reached back and grabbed Carwood’s hip. 

Carwood lined himself up and sunk into Ron, with one hand next to Ron’s on the safety rail with the other on Ron’s hip. Carwood took a shaky breath knowing that Ron could probably feel his rapid heartbeat against his back. Ron’s fingers slid over Carwood’s on the safety rail and interlocked their fingers together. He slid the rest of the way in until his hips were resting against Ron’s ass. Carwood gripped Ron’s fingers tighter but he waited to move until Ron was ready.

“Move,” Ron said, pushing back against Carwood. Carwood raked his teeth over Ron’s shoulder. Spurred on by Ron’s actions, Carwood set a slow pace still gripping Ron’s hand as he moved. With his mouth resting against Ron’s shoulder, he had a perfect view when Ron removed his hand from the shower wall and trailed his fingers over his own dick. “Fuck, Lip.”

Carwood increased his pace, nearly pulling all the way out before he fucked back into Ron, over and over trying to cant his hips in the right angle to find Ron’ spot. Ron also increased his pace, his hand sliding faster over his dick. Ron’s head dropped forward and then he came over the shower wall. Carwood thrust a few more times before he came inside Ron so hard his breath caught. He closed his eyes as he rested his head on Ron’s shoulder, Ron slumped back against him. He felt Ron squeeze his hand on the safety rail. Carwood rubbed his nose over Ron’s shoulder. As Carwood pulled out, he stayed close to Ron, loathe to give up the closeness. 

“Well the good news is we are already in the shower for clean up,” Ron said as they maneuvered under the water to rinse off. Turns out the lube was a little harder to get off, but once they were clean again, they dried off with the less than fluffy hotel towels. When they entered the bedroom, Ron jerked the covers back fairly quickly and dropped unceremoniously onto the middle of the bed. Carwood couldn’t help but chuckle as he climbed in after him pillowing his head on Ron’s chest. He placed a hand over Ron’s heart and then Ron placed his hand over Carwood’s.

They lay there in silence for a moment before Ron spoke, “You know Kitty threatened me tonight.”

Carwood laughed, because he couldn’t help it and because well of course she did.

At first Ron didn’t say anything else and Carwood had thought that that was the end of it but then Ron spoke again in a more serious tone. “I’d marry you tomorrow if I thought that was what you wanted.”

And Carwood knew that. Sure, they had never talked about it but they talked about other things. They talked about Ron finishing grad school, where he’d go to school, and if they could move and go to summer camp in the same summer. So he knew there was a future here, even though they never talked about it. So he knew without a doubt that what he said was true. “I don’t need a room full of people staring at me while we prove something I already know.”

He could feel Ron’s answering smile as he pressed a kiss to Carwood’s forehead.


	7. Seven

“You seriously don’t have to come. You’ve had to live with this thesis. Trust me, no one will judge you for not showing up, you’ve suffered enough.”

They had probably had this conversation at least six times. Ron was the option that attending his defense of thesis was on par with a root canal. He’d been shocked when Carwood took a half day off work to attend. Carwood, for his part, hadn’t thought twice about it, and when he’d told his boss, the way she hadn’t batted an eyelash and just told him to tell Ron she had her fingers crossed for him. Everyone else seemed to understand that a thesis defense was something a boyfriend went too. Well, everyone but Ron.

“You’re going to have to sit with my parents,” Ron said like that was going to be some deal breaker. Like they hadn’t talked about that already too. 

“You aren’t going to get rid of me that easy, Sparky,” Carwood said as he poured the last of his coffee down the sink.

“I can think of a million other things I would do with a half day off work then attend a thesis defense,” Ron stated, still cradling his coffee mug in his hands since he didn’t have to leave for a few more hours.

“That’s because you hate the idea of it on principle,” Carwood said as he pulled on his coat. The weather was finally starting to warm up so he was pleased to break out his lighter jacket.

“Fine. It’s your vacation time,” Ron said, rolling his eyes.

“Yes, it is and I can’t think of a better use for it then watching my boyfriend defend his thesis,” Carwood said, walking over to where Ron was casually leaning against their kitchen counter. He rested his hand on Ron’s hip, pushing up Ron’s shirt a bit so his fingers rested on bare skin.

Ron rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you at one.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Carwood said.

“You are so sappy sometimes,” Ron said before he pulled Carwood into a kiss. Carwood’s fingers griped Ron’s hip as Ron slid his tongue into Carwood’s mouth. It was easy to get pulled in like this, Ron could do that. He always had with Carwood, whether it was the craft room or their kitchen. Ron could make him forget there was a world out there beyond the two of them. Which is why Carwood had set an alarm on his phone for when he absolutely had to leave the house and it was currently going off on the counter.

“I only took the half day,” Carwood sputtered, pulling back.

“Spoilsport,” Ron said before taking a sip of his coffee.

“I’ll see you this afternoon,” Carwood said, taking that first important step back from Ron and the temptation to just call in sick. After that it got easier to pull on his jacket and pick up his laptop bag.

“That’s the only part of this that I’m looking forward too.” Ron replied.

Carwood smiled. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Ron said as Carwood walked to their front door. Carwood’s smile grew wider because even if it hadn’t taken much doing to get Ron to say those words, it still made Carwood a little giddy to hear them.

It was still a little brisk outside when Carwood stepped out, winter a little unwilling to let go of Boston so that it could slid into spring. As Carwood turned the corner to walk towards his bus stop, he turned back as he always did to see their building. It wouldn’t be their building much longer, once Ron got into Brandeis they wouldn’t need to be so close to Boston College so they could save some money. Carwood was already looking for places. Ron just kept saying to let him graduate first, but in Carwood’s mind that was happening in May and Ron would be accepted and start his fellowship in August. So that was a pretty accelerated timeline to find a place and move. He’d miss this place. It had been Ron’s apartment when Carwood had moved to Boston. At the same time he was excited to pick their place, to find something together. Ron teased him about nesting impulses, but Carwood didn’t care. It was a relationship milestone and Carwood was glad to achieve it with Ron. 

When he got to his bus stop, Carwood stuck his hands into his pockets only to find something hard in his pocket. When he pulled it out of his pocket he smiled; it was the container of bubbles from Kitty and Harry’s wedding. That was the last time he’d worn this jacket, standing outside the reception hall. Blowing bubbles as Kitty and Harry ran past to get to their car. He had tucked the bubbles back into his coat before he walked back inside to sit and shoot the shit with Bull and Martin while Buck spun Donna around the room. It had gotten warmer after that and the coat and the bubbles had been packed away in the hall closet.

 

Carwood ran his thumb over the ribbon tied around the neck of the small bottle, this was one relationship milestone that they might not reach. Not because he thought they would break up, but because neither of them seemed like they were in that much of hurry. They still talked about it every once in awhile. Something along the lines of ‘when we get married, we aren’t doing that’ or noticing the catering company of their building’s holiday party. But it always seemed like something in the distance. And maybe that was because Ron was still in school, or because they still lived in their university apartment. Or maybe it was because they didn’t have overbearing parents breathing down their necks to do it. Sure they had Kitty but even she was mostly joking.

Ron had said once, about four beers in, that he’d just whisk Carwood off to a courthouse some random Tuesday and do it like Dick and Nix did. Carwood had been mostly ok with that suggestion. He’d prefer a planned Tuesday so his mom and brother could make the trip, Kitty and Harry too. Harry would never forgive them if they eloped without him too. But he couldn’t imagine doing the whole church wedding with a reception with dancing to follow. So maybe that was something to add to the list, graduate, find a fellowship, get an adult apartment, and plan a Tuesday.

Carwood smiled as he tucked the bubbles back in his pocket as his bus pulled up to the curb, knowing that whatever they were doing, they were doing it together. And in the end, that’s what mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> As always this fic is for Gilove2dance, we started this series together and I always love coming back to it with her.


End file.
